Katanagatari

In an Edo-era Japan lush with a variety of sword-fighting styles, Shichika Yasuri practices the most unique one: Kyotouryuu, a technique in which the user's own body is wielded as a blade. The enigmatic seventh head of the Kyotouryuu school, Shichika lives quietly in exile with his sister Nanami until one day—the wildly ambitious strategist Togame barges into their lives.

Togame brazenly requests that Shichika help in her mission to collect twelve unique swords, known as the "Deviant Blades," for the shogunate. Shichika accepts, interested in the girl herself rather than petty politics, and thus sets out on a journey. Standing in their way are the fierce wielders of these legendary weapons as well as other power-hungry entities who seek to thwart Togame's objective. In order to prevail against their enemies, the duo must become an unbreakable team as they forge ahead on a path of uncertainty and peril.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yasuri, Shichika Main

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Togame Main

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Yasuri, Nanami Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Hitei Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Souda, Emonzaemon Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Higaki, Rinne Supporting

Itou, Miyako Japanese

Tsuruga, Meisai Supporting

Yuuya, Atsuko Japanese

Maniwa, Pengin Supporting

Hirohashi, Ryou Japanese

Maniwa, Houou Supporting

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Itezora, Konayuki Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Iwasa, Gaku Producer

Toba, Yousuke Producer

Ozaki, Noriko Producer

Hariu, Masayuki Producer

Reviews

Mar 2, 2026

Jastereich

Recommended

Katanagatari is one of those shows that sticks with you long after you finish it. I went in expecting a cool, stylized sword fighting anime, and it delivers on that front, but it’s more thoughtful and character driven than I expected. Also, the art style is so distinct and unique that it adds to its charm.

However, some of the battles felt way too short. There were moments where I was hyped up for a big clash, and then it was over almost as soon as it started. At first that threw me off, but over time I kind of understood what the show was doing. ... It’s less about flashy, drawn out fights and more about the journey, the conversations, and what those confrontations mean for the characters. Still, part of me wanted just a little more action.

What really sold me was Shichika’s character development. Watching him slowly change over the course of the story emotionally, mentally, and even morally, was satisfying. He starts off so simple and detached, and by the end, he feels like a completely different person. That progression felt natural and earned, not rushed.

The plot twist at the end was good. It recontextualizes so much of what happened before and leaves you sitting there just processing everything. It’s bold, a little painful, but memorable in the best way. Overall, I really enjoyed the ride. Even with the short fights, the strong writing, character growth, and that unforgettable ending made it absolutely worth it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 29, 2025

MitsotakiShogun

Mixed Feelings

tl;dr: It's a good show, but it shows its age.

Before reviewing it myself, let's do some "meta-reviewing" or "review statistics". If you look at the first page of reviews (newest 20), they are currently distributed like so:

* Positive: 12 (60%)
* Mixed: 2 (10%)
* Negative: 6 (30%)

Compare that to all-time reviews:

... * Positive: 155 (81%)
* Mixed: 20 (10%)
* Negative: 16 (8%)

I think it's because people can probably compare with more recent shows (which often have high budgets, more catchy stories, animators with more experience, etc), and see this with a more critical eye than what people did a decade ago. I would know because I'm one of those people too. Also note that this show has very few user votes, even fewer than first/second/third seasons of certain hit shows that aired <6 months ago. I first watched this a decade ago (give or take a few) and it left a really good impression (8+), but I decided to rewatch it now after finishing the second seasons of Solo Leveling and Spy X Family, and it doesn't compare. That does not apply to other pre-2015 series I've rewatched recently. But enough talking about no-lifer MAL reviewers and their quirks, let's get reviewing.

The first and biggest strike is the animation. People complained about the recent TBATE series being a slideshow (I haven't watched it), but from the clips I've seen it still has some minimal animation, be it minor particle effects or whatever. Katanagatari on the hand, often has a single image being panned with zero, 0, nada, niente, no animation. It's bad... but it's clear to see that the animators made an honest effort with the constraints they were given and gave us some more-than-decent scenes.

Art and sound are above average. Art is really nice, the sort of that would also look good in games, and has this "painting" look. Sound is a mixed bag, sometimes you get some pieces that don't really fit the overall theme, but even though they stand out, they surprisingly don't seem bothersome. Maybe they intentionally tried to break the monotony.

I liked the story. A few nice references to historical names and events, some puns and wordplays, a mostly interesting cast that doesn't come with the carbon-copy protagonists of most shows today. No qualms with the ending either. Not sure how interesting the characters may seem to the average person, but I enjoyed the various backgrounds and the change of pace. What I didn't like was the amount of fast-paced dialogue (at least for a non-Japanese-native, non-English-native English subs reader). It's very dialogue heavy, which isn't necessarily a terrible thing on its own, but it also happens during fight scenes which is a bit annoying, and it could be a bit better in terms of uniqueness and meaning to the story. Speaking of dialogue and fights, the "most hyped fight" against "the strongest swordsman" wasn't even shown to us, just commented on at the end of an episode by the protagonists while they were eating. In the words of the show itself: "don't waste my time [by talking instead of fighting]. Our two spectators have gotten so bored they started chatting".

So, yeah, lots of minor annoyances and quite a few pleasant surprises, paired together with an otherwise "pretty good" series gives you a rating of "7 - Good". I'd probably recommend this only to someone who has already watched older top-tier stuff (S;G, FMAB, ...), and newer hits (SL, KnH)... and hits from the previous 1-2 decades... and maybe a few other stuff too... but after that I'd definitely recommend Katanagatari too! D:

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 12, 2024

Fairtale

Not Recommended

First episode is good, the rest became a long drag of nothing ever happening and nothing leading anywhere.

On top of that, the storytelling is so weird, every episode it feels like parts of the story were just glossed over, add to that weird attempts at "start telling at the end" which often left me feeling like I missed an episode. The constand back-and-forth just felt weird and, at the end, unfulfulling.
The whole point of the anime was that there is no point, which left me askin "why did I watch this?"
- the story leads nowhere
- the misteries lead nowhere
- the romance leades nowhere
- the fights ... are boring and repetitive
- each and every character lacks depth, and changes their personalities or objectives on a whim.

Many good reviews about this, so maybe its a personal thing. But I didn't enjoy this. I would give this a 5/10 if the story was a bit better and if the ending had at least something to do with the rest of the story,

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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